We have received a standard letter from Internal Affairs minister Peter Dunne confirming that rather than doing something useful like reinstating 10-year passports immediately, his letter indicates he would prefer to sit on his hands and wait for the government to respond to the select committee report within required 60-day statutory timeframe.
60 working days puts a government response to the committee some time in the week of 20th of August.
It's a case of the wheels of bureaucracy turning ever more slowly.
In 2005 government decided overnight without any public consultation to legislate for 5-year passports, why can't government reinstate 10-year passports just as quickly?
If forward thinking nations such as Canada and the Netherlands can move from 5 to 10-year passports, so can we.
Kyle Lockwood
Spokesman
nzten.com
Peter Dunne's letter